


Just a Little Unwell

by Anonymous



Category: Jericho (US 2006), The Evil Gene (2015)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Mental Instability, Past Abuse, Post-Evil Gene Canon, Pre-Jericho Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 21:14:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Bill Koehler might be an Omega, but that doesn't mean he's happy about it.  He has bigger problems, however: fresh from the clutches of Dr. Dana Erhart's Evil Gene study, Beta Griff Krenshaw has turned to Bill for help.Things seemed messed up right from the start, but before he knows it, Bill finds out just how messed up things reallyare.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a remix of lanibb's [A Griff in Jericho](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17841083/chapters/42099083).
> 
> Title will probably change once I think of a better one.

There were _reasons_ Bill hated to leave Jericho and so far this trip had managed to tick off almost his entire list.  Dirty airplanes, crowds, heavy traffic, strange food, and oh yeah, the fact that he wasn’t allowed to go by himself.

He was in D.C. for a training seminar – one of many the FBI put on for local law enforcement departments – accompanied by Connor, since an unmated Omega like him traveling alone was unwise.  Connor wasn’t the worst Alpha in the department, but he still got on Bill’s nerves.

The trip’s one saving grace was the attractive Beta at the coffee shop.  He looked a bit like Bill – or Bill’s mental image of himself – but not quite.  As a Beta, he was taller and, to Bill’s everlasting shame, a little thinner too.  Being a male Omega sucked sometimes, quite frankly.

The Beta was at the conference too, a fed according to the glimpses of ID badge Bill saw.  Bill tried to maneuver himself into speaking distance multiple times, but something always stopped him – either Connor wanting him to stay in sight or some other person going up to talk to the Beta.  Fuckers.

He got his chance, though, at the coffee shop on the last day of the seminar.  The Beta was sitting alone in the back, somehow still attractive even though he couldn’t match clothes worth shit.  A navy shirt with a black suit?  Definitely dressed in the dark.

Aw, crap, was he really commenting on a guy’s fashion sense?  Could he _be_ any more stereotypical Omega right now?

Shaking the critical thoughts from his head, Bill stepped away from Connor while he was ordering their coffees – one benefit of this arrangement was that Connor felt obligated to buy Bill’s drinks for him – and sat down across from the Beta.

Holding out his hand, he introduced himself.  “I’m Bill Koehler.  Saw you at the seminar and wanted to say hi.  I’m here from the Jericho, Kansas Sheriff’s Department.”

The man looked up at him, eyes wide for a moment, as if he was shocked someone intruded on his solitude.  It _was_ rather forward of Bill to bother him, but hopefully it’d be worth it.  “Griff,” he said quietly.  “Krenshaw.  FBI.”

“Thought you were a fed,” Bill said.  “Anyhow, I know this is a long shot, but I’m in town for one more night.  Don’t know if you’d be interested in getting together, but here’s my number.”

Griff, if it was okay for Bill to think of him by his first name, took the slip of paper Bill was holding out and studied it a moment before tucking it in his pocket.  “Okay.”

Man of few words.  Bill liked that.  Bill also liked that the man was a Beta.  He didn’t trigger anything instinctual and he was a lot less likely to try and dominate Bill – unlike the rest of Jericho, it seemed some days.

He loved his town, he really did.  He wouldn’t have fought so hard to become one of its protectors if he didn’t, but sometimes the people there were a little backwards when it came to male Omegas.  Omegas in general, really, but particularly ones like Bill, who wanted to buck the stereotypes.

“Bill?” Connor called.  “Got the coffees.  You ready?”

Sighing, Bill stood.  “Call me,” he told Griff.  “Seriously.”

“What were  you doing?” Connor asked, handing Bill his coffee – one sugar, splash of cream. 

“Just bothering people,” Bill snarked.

 

Griff didn’t call that night, though he kept Bill’s number.  He shouldn’t – an Omega like that wouldn’t be interested in someone like him – but it was kind of reassuring to know that even presenting as a Beta and not…  Well, _someone_ was attracted to him.  That’d change when they learned his past.  Really, who wanted to be with someone with PTSD as well as depressive swings?

Anyway, that Bill was all the way out in Kansas and Griff was an active agent based in D.C.  Things wouldn’t work out just based on geography.  Logically speaking.  Hopefully the Omega understood that.

The number stayed stuck to his bedroom mirror anyway, as a reminder that all wasn’t lost.  There was a chance Griff might still have a life outside the Bureau.

Or so he thought.  Two days after meeting Bill, Griff made the wrong call on a raid.  One bullet and his career was shot, no pun intended. 

His last chance didn’t go as planned, either.  Fucking Dana Erhart.  Fucking genetics.  Fucking hallucinations.  He wasn’t going to let them rule him.  Scissors were all he had, but he was going to take himself out of the equation.

But then Dana…  Whatever she’d done to him, he couldn’t let the prisoners kill her.  His protective drive was too strong.  So Griff called out, distracting Morales.  He was trained.  Even injured, he could take the crazed Alpha.  And he did.

The next thing Griff knew, it was two weeks later.  He was in a facility, tied down, with a healing wound in his stomach.  Dana was there again and he knew he was doomed to be nothing but a lab rat the rest of his life, drugged into compliance.  No chance Dana would let him be on placebos ever again.

Except… one of his old supervisors still had a soft spot for him and Dana was removed by NIH for a conflict of interest.  Six months after he went into the facility, they were talking release.

Not complete release.  Since Griff tested positive for HSS-282, there was no way he could be out unsupervised.  _Someone_ would have to be responsible for him.

Griff had no family, though.  No one to take him.

At least not until he remembered that scrap of paper stuck to his mirror.  Bill.  He was an Omega, but he was law enforcement, good enough his department sent him for advanced training.  He also seemed a bit more confident in himself than most male Omegas, so… would he?

 

“Is this Bill Koehler in Jericho, Kansas?”

Bill went on alert.  He didn’t like people knowing who _he_ was before he knew who _they_ were.  “Yes,” he said stiffly into the phone.

“This is Nadia, a nurse at Weatherly Hospital in Baltimore.  I understand you know Griff Krenshaw?”

Griff?  No, he didn’t…  Wait.  That was the Beta from the seminar in D.C.  “I’ve met him, yes.”

“He’s got you listed as his point of contact, so I hope so.  We need to talk to you about his arrangements.”

“Arrangements?  What happened to him?”  Did he die?  Why was Bill his contact?

The nurse explained the bits of Griff’s story that weren’t classified.  At least, that’s what Bill assumed was the reason for the gaps and unexplained injuries.  FBI, classified mission, it made sense.  “And this concerns me how?”

“He’s being released from our care tomorrow, but legally, he needs supervision and he’s requested that you be that person.  Are you willing to let him come stay with you?  If not, we’ll keep him admitted until alternate arrangements can be found.”

The hell?  “What about his family?” Bill asked, pacing his kitchen. 

“Deceased, I’m afraid.  All this information is in the file he’ll bring with him for transfer to a doctor there.”

Racking his brain, Bill came to a realization.  Griff had no one.  No family, no friends… if the only person he could think to call was some guy who’d asked him for a hook-up six months ago, he was in pretty piss poor shape. 

Maybe it was the peace officer in him.  Maybe it was the Omega.  Maybe it was some crazy whim, but Bill said yes.  He’d take in this refugee.

A hot refugee, for sure, but one who was going to need some care.

Oh, he was going to get shit for this at the department when they found out.  More ‘mommy Omega’ jokes were coming his way, he was sure.

 

Griff arrived in Hays off a plane the next day, accompanied by a Baltimore police officer in plainclothes.  Bill met them, showed his identification and badge to the officer, and showed Griff to his car.  The Beta had nothing with him but a carry-on bag and the briefcase of files the officer handed over.

“Did you eat?” Bill asked Griff once they were in his SUV. 

Griff shook his head, saying nothing.

“Okay, then.  Let’s get food first and then head home.”  Bill found a chain restaurant out near I-70 and he sat in the booth, flipping through the paperwork while Griff ate his chicken fingers.

Damn.  This man, however attractive Bill found him, was seriously messed up.  PTSD, depression, psychosis with a history of hallucinations, attempted suicide, the damn evil gene…  Griff Krenshaw was apparently a piece of work.  The list of his prescriptions was two-thirds of a page long.

Would Jericho’s pharmacy even _have_ all these medications?  “Did they send you with your meds, Griff?” he asked, trying to be gentle.

The Beta nodded.  “Two weeks.”

Two weeks of meds before Bill needed to make sure he got refills.  Okay.  That was doable.

If Griff’s medical history was shocking, the next folder was even more so.  Bill had been granted full power of attorney over Griff:  medical, legal, custodial, _everything_.  Griff was out of the hospital, but he’d never be free again.

Bill sighed and closed the files.  “Okay, so it looks like they’ve set out some pretty strict rules.  Do you know them all or do I need tell you?”

Griff nodded.  “Know ‘em.”

Bill nodded back, slowly, thinking how he was going to manage this.  Griff wasn’t supposed to be unsupervised.  He wasn’t supposed to have access to sharp objects.  Never to be off medication.

How the hell was he going to make this work with his job?  Funnily enough, Griff wasn’t restricted from firearms.  Could he get him hired on as a sort of deputy deputy?  Allow him to go on patrols with Bill and Jimmy?

Bill rubbed his face with his hands.  “Good.  I’ll lock everything in the gun safe for now, but we’ll figure out something more permanent.  I’ve got a two bedroom apartment.  You’ll have to sleep on the couch until I can buy you a bed, but you’ll have your own room.  That work for you?  You’ll have to leave the door open, but we can make it work, I think.”

Griff nodded again, solemnly, and finished his chicken fingers.  Bill realized now that he’d ordered them because they didn’t have to be cut up.  Damn, having to ask someone to cut up your food had to be humiliating.

Bill knew humiliation.  He wasn’t going to rub any of this in Griff’s face.

“Looking at your suitcase, you’re gonna need more clothes.  You got enough to last the next week?  I don’t have off again until then and Jericho doesn’t exactly have the best shopping.”

Another nod.  “Suits.”

“You want suits?” Bill asked, confused.  Then again, the man had been a federal agent.  He’d worn a suit the entire week of the seminar.  Maybe that was something that grounded him.  Bill felt the same way about his uniform, to be honest.  He could respect that.

Yet another nod.

Another sigh from Bill.  “Okay.  So you’re quiet.  You don’t have to be, you know.  You can talk to me.  We’re going to be attached at the hip from now on.”  He pulled out his credit card and stuck it in the bill.

No response from Griff.  He just stared at the table sadly.

Bill watched him while they waited for the waiter to come pick up the bill.  It went quicker than he was used to; usually as an Omega dining alone, he’d have to wait until the waiter finished with the tables of Alphas and Betas.  Since he had a Beta with him, though, they’d gotten prompt service.

Maybe having Griff around _would_ have some benefits.

 

The ride to Jericho was quiet.  Griff felt like maybe he should say something – maybe a thank you to this near stranger for saving him from more hospitalization – but the words caught in his throat.

Being around Bill was calming.  He smelled sweet and smooth, like Griff remembered his own Omega mother smelling.  Before Eric killed her, at least.

Just thinking about the murders made the smell of blood fill his nostrils and he heard Eric’s laugh in the back of his mind.

 _No_.  He was not going to listen.  Eric was dead.  He knew that.  He wasn’t going to feed the demon with attention.

Was Eric in the files Bill had read?  That information was easily available through newspaper reports, so it probably wasn’t classified.  Godfrey Correctional would be.  Someday, Griff would have to explain what happened there.  Not today, though.  Too much going on, too overwhelming.

Like Bill.  Good smelling Bill.  Could he be a mate?  Since he presented as Beta, Bill probably didn’t think of him like that.  Probably wanted an Alpha, a proper Alpha.

Griff’s secret would help him here, though.  Unlike other Betas, Griff was attuned to Omegas’ scent glands.  He’d know Bill’s moods from the pheromones.  He could use that.

“So, I saw in your file you’re going to get SSI disability.  We’ll get you a new bank account unless you already have one?”  Bill glanced at him, barely taking his eyes off the road.

Griff shook his head.  All his assets had been confiscated after Godfrey, when it was thought he’d be hospitalized the rest of his life.

“Of course you don’t.  You don’t seem to have much of anything.”  Bill grimaced.  “Technically, I’ve got control of all your money, but don’t think it means you don’t have a say in how I spend it.  It’s supposed to be for necessities, but there’s some leeway in that.  What food you like, what clothes you want, that sort of thing.”

Did Bill find talking calming?  Was he just filling the silence?  Was Griff being rude to him?  “Okay,” he croaked out.

Dark was setting when Bill pulled into a quaint, small town.  Griff hadn’t realized just how rural his new life was going to be.  He was used to the hustle and bustle of the D.C. area.  Was the silence going to drive him crazy?

Bill caught him staring out the window.  “It’s small,” he said defensively.  “But it’s a good place.  You’ll adapt.”

No comments on the size of the town, then.  As if Griff was up to making comments.

“I’ve got work tomorrow.  You’ll have to come with me until we figure something out.  Maybe you can be a junior deputy or something.  It’s not like you don’t have law enforcement experience, though you’ll find us less exciting than FBI life, I’m sure.”  Bill pulled the SUV into a run-down apartment complex and parked in front of some rickety wooden stairs.  “It’s not much, but it’s home.  I’m the upstairs front apartment.”

Griff followed Bill in, carrying his suitcase.  The apartment was sparse, obviously a bachelor pad.  Bill may be an Omega, but he didn’t seem to ascribe to all the stereotypes, such as nesting.  The leather couch looked comfortable enough, though, and everything smelled like Bill.  He could stay here.

With barely a glance over his shoulder, Bill pointed out all the rooms in the apartment.  “My office is in the second bedroom right now, but we’ll make that up for you next week when I’m off again.”  He stopped and turned around.  “Do you need anything before bed?”

He hadn’t put away all the things Griff was prohibited yet.  Was this a test?  “Knives,” he said.

Bill’s eyes widened.  “Oh yeah!”  He bustled around the apartment, gathering up knives, scissors, and what looked like Bill’s duty belts, locking them securely in the tall gun safe over in the corner by the TV.  Griff kind of enjoyed watching Bill move around like that.

He shut his eyes.  He couldn’t think like that.  Bill was just to watch him.  Nothing else.  Just because he’d shown kindness – and interest once upon a time – didn’t mean he was interested now.  Not with all Griff’s crazy.

When the confiscation was done, Bill dug in the back of the closet in the second bedroom and pulled out a set of sheets and a blanket.  Griff helped him make up the pull-out couch.

Bill frowned.  “I get up early, so bedtime’s early too.  Feel free to watch the TV if you can’t get to sleep this early, but I’m getting you up at four-thirty anyway, so be prepared.  Gotta be at work at five-thirty and you gotta come with me, like I said.”

Griff nodded.  He could get up early.  He’d done many early morning stake-outs on assignments, back when his life was normal.  Ish.

Bill disappeared into the back room and Griff was left in the living room.  Bereft of anything else to do, he crawled into the fold-out bed and tried to sleep.

 

Bill jerked awake, aware something wasn’t right.  He wasn’t alone in the apartment.

He was halfway to the bedside handgun safe when he remembered about Griff.  He wasn’t _supposed_ to be alone.

Then again, Griff was probably not supposed to be making distressed noises in the middle of the night.  Bill got up cautiously and saw Griff tossing and turning on the fold-out.

Sitting lightly on the side of the bed, Bill shook Griff’s shoulders.  “Hey, buddy.  It’s okay.  It’s just a bad dream.”

At his touch, the Beta sat up straight and with only a moment’s pause, grabbed onto Bill.  Before he knew what was going on, Bill’s personal space was invaded in one of the most intimate ways – Griff had his nose stuck in the scent gland just under Bill’s left ear.

The fuck?  Betas couldn’t smell Alpha or Omega scents.  Why did Griff go straight there?  Without permission, too – scenting was incredibly familiar and usually only done between family or partners, dating or mated.  “Uh.  What are you doing, Griff?”

Griff didn’t move, but he talked.  “Scent calming,” breath hot against Bill’s neck. 

Fighting back a shiver, Bill wondered if he’d held a misconception about Betas his whole life.  “Okay, so you can smell me.  But you’re a Beta…?”  Sighing, he realized it didn’t matter.  If Griff found him calming, then he found him calming.  Bill could stand a little bursting of his personal bubble if it helped someone else.  Tentatively, unsure if it would help or hurt, he wrapped his arms around Griff.  “It’s okay, Griff.  Calm down.  Just a bad dream,” he repeated.

Slowly, Griff’s trembling slowed and eventually he pulled back from Bill’s neck.  “Sorry,” he said.

Bill didn’t let him go.  “Somehow, you can smell me and it’s comforting to you.  That’s really fucking weird for a Beta, but okay.  I can learn to deal with it.  You caught me by surprise, though.”

“Sorry.  Scared.  Revert to feral.”

Ah, that explained things a little better.  If Griff felt more feral and out of control when he was scared, seeking out something comforting made a hell of a lot of sense.  Bill still didn’t know _how_ Griff could smell him, but…  “Feral when you’re scared, huh?  Got it.  That makes things a little trickier, but we can make it work still.”  Somehow.  Bill wasn’t sure.  But he’d figure it out.

Ending the hug, Bill leaned back from Griff.  “I’m going back to bed.  You going to be okay?”

Griff’s eyes grew wide.  He nodded slowly, but Bill realized he was lying.

“Would it help you to come stay in my bed?” Bill asked, resigned.  “The whole thing smells like me so you don’t have to neck rape me to calm down.”

That was the wrong choice of words.  Griff looked like he’d been slapped.

Bill rubbed his face.  “Sorry.  I’m just tired and a little caught off guard.  I’m not mad at you.  I just wish I’d had some warning, although I get you weren’t in a state to give me any.”  He stood and gestured for the Beta to follow him.  “C’mon, man.  Let’s get back to sleep.”

 

The next morning, Griff woke in a bed smelling of Omega.

It was the best wake-up he’d had in years.

Bill was already out of bed and in the shower, so Griff got up and unpacked his suitcase into the second room’s closet.  His clothes – suits, for the most part – were rumpled, but maybe if he hung one in the bathroom while he showered, it’d straighten out some.

The water turned off and Bill emerged a few minutes later in boxers and a white tee, fluffing his hair with his fingers to help it dry quicker.  “You’re up.  Good,” he said when he saw Griff standing in the hallway.  “Go shower and I’ll cook breakfast while you’re in there.  Don’t take long, though.  I don’t have a huge water tank.”

Griff nodded.  Quick showers around here.  Got it.  He did like lingering ones, but it was worth giving them up if it meant a life outside of the hospital.

And home-cooked meals.  Definitely worth it for those.

Showered and dressed, Griff found Bill in the kitchen, putting the last touches on a couple of omelets.  Denver omelets, by the look of them.  Not Griff’s favorite, but he’d eat it without complaint if that’s what Bill wanted to cook for him.

“Here,” Bill said, handing him a plastic plate and fork.  Was he that wary of Griff?  He must have noticed Griff’s expression, because he explained, “I hate dishes and apparently don’t give a shit about the environment, so I use disposable stuff.  It’s just been me, so no one cared.  If you want actual plates and silverware, we can get some sometime.”

Hungrier than he realized, Griff finished with his omelet before Bill was even halfway done.

“Damn.  I’d offer another, but we don’t have the time.  You _do_ look like you haven’t eaten that well the last few months.  I’ll cook you more tonight.”  He chuckled.  “You know, they made me learn to cook when I was younger just because I was an Omega and someday I’d have to care for my Alpha.  No one thought I’d only get to use the skill for a troubled Beta.  Can’t imagine my teachers would be too happy with me now – never found an Alpha, never had kids, probably never will.  Parents certainly aren’t too happy with my choices.  They want grandchildren.”

“Don’t want Alpha?  Kids?”  Griff asked.  What he was hearing from Bill was that he wouldn’t be interested whether Griff was a proper Beta or an Alpha, like he used to be, before the Bureau.

Bill shook his head.  “Never found an Alpha that I liked well enough to want to spend much time with.  Well, there’re a couple, but they’re either not interested in male Omegas or already mated.  I’ve had much better luck with Betas, but I won’t give my parents grandkids that way and it’s not like society approves of that anyway.  Pretty much, it’s a no-win situation.”  He glanced sheepishly at Griff.  “No offense to you being a Beta.  You’re as tied into this damn physiological system as I am.”

Bill wasn’t entirely wrong.  He just didn’t know that Griff no longer fit into the system properly.  He’d had that taken from him.  He’d agreed to it, once upon a time.  If he could, he’d take it all back now.  Would the gene have activated in him if he’d never been in the FBI, never gone to Godfrey?  Was it as inevitable in him as it had been in Eric?

He’d have never met Bill if he’d never been FBI, though, and so far Bill was the only person to seem to truly care about him since his family died.  Maybe, in the end, it would be worth it.  Maybe Bill wouldn’t push him away when he learned the truth and they’d become mates.

Wow, for having been here less than twenty-four hours, he was weirdly certain Bill needed to be his mate. 

In the distant past – and not-so-distant, in some places – Alphas would just take the Omegas they wouldn’t.  No courting, no dating, just taking.  A part of Griff wanted to give in to that feral instinct.

That was the wrong thing to do, he knew, so he held back.  From what Bill just said, Griff imagined he’d had plenty of Alphas try to push him around like that.  If Griff gave into that side of himself, he’d lose Bill forever.

He didn’t want that.

 

Bill wasn’t used to someone as quiet as Griff.  His parents chattered together constantly.  So did Jimmy and Margaret.  Stanley, too.  Well, Stanley didn’t talk constantly, but he definitely talked more than Griff.  He found himself chattering too, to make up for the silence.

“We’re a small department,” he explained on the short drive into work.  “Just six of us and I’m the only Omega.  One of only ten Omegas in law enforcement in Kansas, actually.”  Bill was proud of that fact.  He’d fought hard and long to get the sheriff to give him a chance.  He’d had to be the best of his class at the Academy.  He’d never be as physically strong as the Alphas and Betas he’d been up against, but he was clever and perceptive and got around his physical limitations.  He could problem solve with the best of them and he’d had the top range scores.

He told Griff about that as he pulled in behind Town Hall.

“Omegas in FBI,” Griff said.  “No problem.”

“I’ve heard about that,” Bill said.  The FBI and CIA both hired Omegas because they needed agents of all sexes and genders.  Undercover assignments called for all of them, at times.  “Thought about applying, but I don’t want to move to D.C.  Too big for me.  I’m a small-town guy.”

He parked in his usual spot, in the very back by the road, and looked over at Griff.

“Okay, so unless Sheriff Dawes has a problem with it, you’re gonna ride with Jimmy and me today.  Jimmy’s an Alpha, but he’s a good guy.  Mated, so there’s never been any issue with us working together.  His mate’s a good one, too.  You’d almost never know Margaret was an Omega.  She’s got some personality,” Bill said appreciatively.  He and Margaret understood each other, even if she was still perfectly happy being a stay-at-home mom.  “If the sheriff _does_ have a problem with it, you’ll have to stay in the station and wait for my patrol to end at two.  Can you do that?”

Griff nodded at him.  “Want to come.”

Bill huffed.  “Yeah, sitting around the station sucks, but it might be all you get to do.  Maybe we can train you to take reports and you can be some help if you’re stuck there.”

Another nod.  “Want to help.”

“Good attitude.”  Bill led the way into the building, bracing himself for the inevitable comments from Riley and Salem.  He’d told the sheriff about Griff yesterday and Dawes had agreed to come in early to get a sense of how to fit the Beta into Bill’s working life or if it would even be possible.  Salem and Riley knew nothing about it, however, and Bill figured they’d be the ones most likely to tease him about babysitting a Beta.

He was right.

“Who’s your friend, Koehler?” Salem asked almost immediately.

“Name’s Griff,” Bill said.  “He’s staying with me from now on.”

“You hooked up with a _Beta_?” Salem hooted.  “Told your mommy yet?”

Bill gritted his teeth.  “Didn’t hook up with anyone.  Griff’s a friend who needed somewhere to live and I said okay.  He’s gonna hang out here, too.”  He didn’t explain Griff’s crazy, but knew it’d get around the station eventually. 

Riley and Salem both stared at the way Griff was staying close to Bill.  Probably keeping within range of Bill’s scent glands, he figured.  New place, new people.  Probably stressful for the Beta.

Dawes was in his office and Bill went on in, ignoring the rest of Salem’s questions.

“Sir, this is Griff that I told you about.”  Bill took a seat and Griff sat in the other chair.  “He’s not talking much and there are some limitations to what he’s legally allowed to do.  But he’s got FBI training, like I told you.  He knows what it takes to be law enforcement.”

Dawes wasn’t distracted by Bill’s patter.  “Limitations?”

Sighing, Bill explained.  “Turns out Griff’s got the evil gene, but it’s controlled with medication right now.  It seems to keep him pretty sedate.  But because of it, he’s not allowed to handle sharp objects.  Guns are okay, though, for some reason.”

Studying Griff, Dawes still spoke to Bill.  “The evil gene?  And you wanted to talk to me about deputizing him?”

“To be fair,” Bill said, “no one in the department has ever been tested.  For all we know, Jimmy could have it.”  Jimmy was the least likely person in the world to have the evil gene.  He was a freaking teddy bear.  Hell, if there was an opposite gene, Jimmy had it instead.  Bill hoped that underscored his point.

Dawes shrugged slightly.  “This is true.  But someone who’s known to have it…  Bill, I can’t have him representing our department.  It doesn’t fit in our budget anyway or I’d’ve hired a seventh deputy ages ago.”

That’s kind of what Bill figured.  “Don’t have to pay him.  He’s on SSI right now.  But we can teach him to take reports and stuff, right?  I can’t leave him alone at home; that’s one of his limitations, too.  He’s got to have supervision.”

The sheriff pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Bill, you know I have a soft spot for you, but I don’t see this working out.  Having him in this office is going to be a liability I can’t assume.  You’re going to have to find alternate accommodations or find a new job that’ll let you keep him with you.”

Griff made a sad noise deep in his throat and Bill glared at him, willing him to shut up.  He could handle the sheriff without the Beta’s pity or help.

“I understand, sir.  Today, I’ll keep him with me, back of the car, and I’ll find something else for him in the next couple of days.”

Sighing, Dawes nodded and waved them out of the office.

Jimmy was at his desk by now, waiting for Bill.  Riley and Salem had their heads buried in paperwork, though Bill heard them snickering, probably at his expense.

“Jimmy, Griff.  Griff, Jimmy,” Bill introduced, gesturing at each man in turn.  “Griff’s gonna ride with us for a couple days, Jim.”

Always easygoing, Jimmy nodded.  “Sure thing.  How’s it going, Griff?”

Griff seemed surprised Jimmy talked to him.  “Good,” he croaked.

“Griff’s a man of few words,” Bill joked.  “ _Very_ few.”  Still pretty sharp, he thought.  Had to be, to be a fed.  Not even his drug cocktail could mess that up, Bill was willing to bet.

Jimmy watched Griff, as if waiting for more response from the Beta.

He wasn’t going to get it.

“C’mon, Jimmy.  Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you more.”

 

Griff sat in the back of the patrol car.  It wasn’t as decked out as metro D.C.’s cars – no plastic seats with holes for arms in handcuffs, just worn and cracked leather.  There was still a bulletproof screen and cage between him and the two deputies.

He could smell Bill sitting in front of him, but he could also smell Jimmy the Alpha, so Bill’s scent wasn’t as reassuring as it could have been.  Jimmy was obviously mated – apparently quite happily so – and therefore no threat to Griff’s potential claim, but having an Alpha around Bill was still unnerving.  He wanted to protect Bill.

Yet another instinct he’d have to downplay.  If he tried that, Bill would kick him back to the hospital in a heartbeat.

“So I’ve got to find someone to stay with him while I’m at work,” Bill was saying, with a glance back to Griff.  “Sorry about that, Griff.  I’m not giving up this job.”

Of course not.  Griff didn’t want Bill to get fired for his sake.  “It’s okay.”  It wasn’t, probably.  He was causing Bill problems.  He didn’t know what he’d end up doing.  But it was his only option right now.

“I’d leave him with my parents, but since they retired down by Cedar Bluff Reservoir, I can’t exactly get him to them daily.”

Jimmy glanced at him through the rear view mirror.  “I’d say Margaret, but she’s got her hands full with the kids.”

Bill shook his head.  “I kinda feel like I need to leave him with another Beta, but I’m not on great terms with any except my parents.”

Jimmy gave Bill a sympathetic look.

There was a story there.  Or many stories, Griff was sure.  Probably to do with Bill’s self-professed preference for Betas.

So not happy stories.

“There’s always Stanley,” Jimmy said.  “Put him to work on the farm.  He keeps our hours, too.”

“But Bonnie,” Bill said.

“She’s a Beta, like you said you wanted.  So there’s an Alpha there to keep things calm and another Beta for him to get to know.”

“But she’s sixteen.  He’s.  Uh.”  Bill looked back again.  “How old are you, Griff?  Thirty-something?”

“Thirty-six,” Griff said.  He’d had his birthday while he was drugged up in the hospital.

“Thirty-six.  That’s more than twice Bonnie’s age.  Not what we’re going for, Jimmy.”

“Well, she’s going back to school next month, so it’d just be Stanley.  Griff could help him.”

“That’s the other thing.  If he’s not supposed to have access to dinner knives, what about hoes and pitchforks and scythes and other farm implements?”  Bill was sounding a little distressed.

Jimmy laughed.  “You think Stanley can’t handle a Beta?  He’d be offended.”

Griff hoped no one had to ‘handle’ him.  He didn’t intend to cause problems like that.

The demon in him might have other plans, though.  Bill had a good point.

“Be safe,” Griff said quietly.  “No farm.”

Jimmy seemed to melt a little in the driver’s seat.  “Aw, jeez, Bill, you’ve got him feeling bad.”

“I didn’t mean to!” the Omega protested.  “I’m just trying to follow the rules.”

“The rules suck,” Jimmy said.  “Griff’s so quiet.  Hard to imagine him needing all these restrictions.”

Griff shook his head.  Jimmy was asking for trouble; he just didn’t realize it.  “Need medicine.  Need help.” 

Both men looked back at Griff, questioning expressions on their faces.  Suddenly, Griff was glad he wasn’t up to explaining what happened at Godfrey.

A car zoomed past their hiding spot in some tall prairie grass and Jimmy hit the gas while Bill hit the lights and siren.  When they pulled up behind the now-stopped car, Jimmy gestured for Bill to take point.

Huh.  He knew Bill was a full-fledged deputy, but somehow he’d still imagined all the Alphas instinctively being protective of him.  Griff had figured Bill sat out on a lot of things – like this.  What if the driver was an Alpha who wouldn’t listen to an Omega, even one with a badge?  Either this said a lot about Bill’s ability or Jimmy’s trust.  Possibly both.

Jimmy took the opportunity to chat with Griff.  Sitting so he could still see Bill and the car out of the corner of his eye, he smiled at Griff.  “So Bill told me he met you at the seminar last winter, but he didn’t say how.  Were you a teacher or a student?”

“Observer.”  Griff was really there to back up one of the teachers whose kid was fighting a stomach bug and to jump in if they’d needed to leave.  Of course, he was better spoken back then and could have taught the class in his sleep.  Now, he’d struggle just to get through the introduction.

“Oh, okay!”

That wasn’t the full story, though, was it?  “Met coffee shop.  Gave me phone number.  Nice.”

Jimmy’s eyes widened.

Bill sauntered back to the car and plopped in his seat.  “You wanna radio in the tags and license, Jimmy?”

“Um.  Okay.”  Jimmy radioed in and there was a moment of silence before the IDs came back.  This guy was clean.

“Warning?” Bill asked, looking to Jimmy for confirmation.

The Alpha shrugged.  “Sure.  Why not?  First offense in however long and all.”

Bill clambered back out of the car, grabbing his citation clipboard as he went.  It took him just a minute to fill in all the information and hand the guy his official warning slip.

“So, uh, Bill,” Jimmy said when he got back in.  “You didn’t tell me Griff was a hookup.”

There was the protective Alpha coming out.  Both Griff and Bill flushed.

“It wasn’t like that, Jimmy,” Bill protested.  “Okay, so maybe I tried, but Griff never called me.  It was a completely celibate trip.  I doubt I’d’ve been able to get away from Connor anyway; he was watching me like a hawk.”

“So you two didn’t even hang out and yet Griff’s out here living with you now after whatever happened to him?”  Jimmy’s voice was disapproving.

“No one else,” Griff stammered.  “Family dead.  No friends.”

“See, Jimmy?  _Now_ who’s upsetting him?” Bill huffed.  “I figured that stuff out when I was the only one he had to call.  And, well, I couldn’t say no.  You should Google him, by the way, see what happened to his family.  See if you’d say no, too.”

Griff watched Bill, grateful the man was sticking up for him.

“And anyway, I’m only four people from being in that situation myself.  If something happened to you, Stanley, and my parents, I’d be sore out of luck,” Bill continued.  “We’re all just five decisions away from being homeless.  We’ve seen that.”

That wasn’t something Griff had ever thought about, but it made some sense.  A few poor decisions on his part – from the bad shot on the raid to trusting Dana – and he’d ended up here, reliant on a man he barely knew.

Thank goodness Bill Koehler seemed to be a good person.  Odd, but caring.  For that, Griff could learn to live with the sexual frustration.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next two months, Bill helped Griff settle into Jericho life; slower and smaller than anything Bill guessed Griff had experienced.

Stanley ended up agreeing to watch Griff during the day while Bill was at work.  Extra farm hands were always useful, especially in the lead-up to fall harvest.  Bill suspected Stanley was ignoring Griff’s restrictions, but they’d had no problems and Griff seemed to actually enjoy himself – “Good hard work.  No bullshit,” he said – so Bill said nothing.

That was the weird thing, though.  Bill expected Griff to loosen up about talking as time passed, but he only did a little.  His sentences were still short and choppy, even this long since the hospital.  Was it the medication?  The PTSD?  Bill longed to ask him why he had so much trouble expressing himself, but didn’t want to be rude.  There were a lot of questions he didn’t ask so as not to be rude.

However little Griff spoke, things went peacefully until the day Bill got caught in the middle of a scuffle trying to arrest someone on a domestic call.

This someone had buddies, Alpha buddies, who didn’t appreciate an Omega arresting their pal for hitting his mate.  They got some good punches and kicks in before Jimmy pulled them off Bill.

He’d seen himself in the mirror in the station bathroom and knew his face was red and swelling, bruises already forming on his side and arms.  It looked pretty bad, but it wasn’t anything that wouldn’t heal in a week.  He knew he was emanating a ‘hurt Omega’ scent anyway, but no one at work was rude enough to bring it up.

Stanley gave a low whistle as he walked up to the farmhouse after his shift.  “You look like shit,” he said, leaning back in his chair on the porch.

Bill shrugged.  “Just some assholes.  I’ve gotten worse and you know it.  Where’s Griff?”

“Showing Bonnie some city slicker trick for peeling hard-boiled eggs.  I think.  I dunno.”

Quirking an eyebrow, Bill walked past his friend into the house, where he saw Griff and Bonnie leaned over the kitchen island.

“Griff,” he said quietly.  “Time to go home.  Gotta get your meds before dinner.”

The Beta’s head shot up, nostrils flaring and Bill suddenly got worried.  This was the first time he’d been hurt at work since Griff came to live with him.  How would he react?  Stanley and Bonnie didn’t know he could smell Alpha and Omega scents; as far as they knew, he was a normal Beta.

Griff stalked over to Bill, towering over him even though he was only a couple inches taller.  “Who hurt you?” he asked, sticking his nose in Bill’s scent gland again.  He nearly growled.  “Alphas.”

Bill reached out and pushed Griff back, keeping a hold of the Beta’s arms.  “It’s okay, Griff.  It happens at work sometimes.  I’m okay.  Jimmy got there before I could really get hurt.”

“ _Not okay_ ,” Griff snarled.  “ _Mine._ ”

“You okay, Bill?” Stanley asked cautiously, sidling around so he was between Griff and Bonnie.  Bill knew his Alpha friend would step in if Griff was really a threat to him.

Shaking his head to call Stanley off, Bill explained, “He’s protective like an Alpha sometimes and he can smell our scents, so he could tell I was hurt before he saw me.”

“But Griff’s a Beta,” Bonnie said, signing as she spoke.

“Yeah, I know.”  Bill still didn’t have answers for that.  “But it’s true.”

A cell phone rang and Bill realized it was his.  He took his hands off Griff, who immediately went back to Bill’s scent gland.

Sighing, Bill answered the phone, holding it to his other ear.  “Yeah?  Oh, hello sir.  Yes, I’ll come back and get that done.”  Closing the phone, he gently pushed Griff back again.  “There’s some paperwork I need to do, Griff.  You’ve got to come with me back to the station.”

“But medicine,” Griff said.

“In the car,” Bill explained.  He kept an extra dose there, just for situations like this.  “You’ve got to behave, though.  I’m okay.  You don’t have to keep checking on me.”

“You _sure_ you’re okay?” Stanley asked again.  “He can stay here while you go back.”

“ _No_!” Griff insisted.  “Stay with Bill.”

Bill caught Stanley’s eye and shrugged.  “We’ll be fine.  Just awkward.”  He took Griff by the hand.  “C’mon, buddy.  Let’s go.”

Stanley didn’t seem too convinced.  “Okay, but call me if you need me.”

Bill nodded and led Griff to his SUV, digging in the glove compartment for Griff’s medicines.  He shook out the handful of pills into Griff’s palm and handed him a bottle of water.  “Here ya go.  Take these.”

For a moment, Bill thought Griff was going to defy him, but Griff tossed the pills back and chugged the entire water bottle to wash them down.  Bill breathed a sigh.  He patted the Beta on the back.  “Good job.  Ready to go back to the station?”

Griff didn’t answer, but climbed into the passenger seat.  That was enough for Bill.

He shut the passenger door and closed his eyes for a moment.  Griff was getting more and more possessive every day.  Bill was pretty sure the Beta intended to make him his mate at some point. 

That wasn’t such a bad thing, in Bill’s mind.  Griff already slept with him at night because his scent calmed the Beta’s nightmares.  Going from that to a sexual mate relationship wasn’t such a huge step in Bill’s mind.  He just wished he had a little more choice in the matter.  And maybe that Griff never again got that personal in public.

Bill’s wish was busted pretty quickly.  He sat at his desk at the station and Griff stayed so close that they were practically touching.  When he thought no one was looking, the Beta even dared to sniff at him.

Griff’s hair, which frankly needed a cut but Bill was wary about taking him to a barbershop with all the sharp implements there, tickled Bill’s neck and he couldn’t help but laugh and pull away.

The laugh got the attention of Sheriff Dawes, who was talking to Eric Green at the front counter.  The sheriff frowned and motioned for Bill to follow him into his office.

“If I didn’t know what happened on your patrol, son, I’d worry that Beta is abusing you,” Dawes said after the door was closed.

Frowning, Bill said, “What do you mean?  Griff has shown absolutely no sign he’d hurt me.”

Dawes returned the frown and Bill got it.  Evil gene thing again.  Dawes was never going to trust Griff with Bill.

“Sir, he’s _fine_.  He’s just… well, he’s a little protective and me getting hurt today made him go into overdrive.”

“He’s acting like you belong to him,” the sheriff said bluntly.  “And I can’t dictate your life, but really, Bill?  With a Beta?  Why not find a good Alpha?  There’s plenty in the departments around us, since you don’t get along with Paul or Harry or Sara.”

As if the sheriff didn’t already know Bill’s preferences.  He’d commented on them before.  And no, Bill didn’t _want_ an Alpha, whether it was Riley, Salem, Sara Lamar, or someone from a neighboring county.  He didn’t _want_ to be owned.

“With all due respect, sir, I appreciate your worry but who I chose to spend my time with outside of work is none of your business.  Since you seem to care, however, you should know that I’d be perfectly happy if Griff decided to mate me.”  Bill was in no mood to deal with this.  He knew being cheeky to his boss wasn’t the best idea, but sometimes an Omega needed to get confrontational to get Alphas off their back.  “He doesn’t seem to think he has control over my life.  And doesn’t think he has the right to get physical with me and hurt me, unlike some Alphas around here.”

Bill stood, drawing himself as tall as he could.  “I know it’s an Alpha thing, but I’m so tired of people telling me what I can or can’t do just because I was born an Omega.  I can decide for myself what job I want or who I should mate with or even if I should ever have kids.  My biology doesn’t make me inferior and Griff, at least, doesn’t treat me like it does.”  He huffed.  “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to finish my paperwork and take Griff home, away from crap like this.”

 

Griff could smell Bill’s anger the second he stepped out of the sheriff’s office.  The walls were all glass, so he knew the sheriff hadn’t hurt Bill physically, but Griff still hated that he’d made Bill upset.

Made _his Omega_ upset.  Made his usual delightful scent burnt and acrid.

Nothing would make Griff happier right now than to take Bill home and give him the mating bite so he could officially protect him.  Even though Bill was very patient about Griff needing his scent to calm down and letting Griff touch him, Bill had given no sign that he wanted that.

Or maybe Griff just couldn’t read people any more.  It used to be part of his job, but it’d been more than eight months since he’d been an agent.  Was he forgetting his training already?  Was it something Dana did to him?  The medications to control his mental issues?  Was it the damn gene activating again?

Bill stood by his desk, looking at Griff, who suddenly became aware he was quivering in rage.  Bill put a hand on Griff’s shoulder.  “It’s okay,” he repeated for the thousandth time today.  “The sheriff didn’t hurt me.  We just had a disagreement.  You used to disagree with your bosses, right?  Everyone does at some point.”

Well, yeah, but Griff had never yelled at them the way it looked like Bill had.

Sighing, Bill sat down.  “I’m gonna finish this paperwork, Griff.  You do what you need to stay calm.  We’ll go out to eat after this because I do _not_ feel like being a domestic Omega and cooking.”

Bill seemed to rush the paperwork, but his scent evened out as he worked on it.  Griff wanted to be close enough to scent him properly, but realized now how inappropriate it was while they were at Bill’s work.  He compromised by leaning against Bill, close enough the Omega’s scent was still strong.

Half an hour later, Bill gently pushed Griff away from him and went to file the reports he’d needed to finish.  Griff sat at Bill’s desk, glaring at the sheriff, until Bill came back and took him by the hand again.

“Dinnertime, Griff,” he said, sounding weary.

Bill’s hand was warm and comforting in Griff’s.  Somewhat defiantly, Bill didn’t let go until they were at a diner two blocks away.

They both ordered the diner’s special, big juicy delicious bacon cheeseburgers that Griff almost – _almost_ – asked Bill to cut in half for him.  Not wanting to embarrass either of them, Griff just ate messily.  Bill did the same, wiping himself up as he went.

“Sheriff?” Griff asked after Bill had some time to eat.

His Omega looked at him, as if judging whether or not he wanted to answer.  “He doesn’t approve of us,” Bill said softly.  “Our arrangement.  Thinks you might hurt me someday.  Thinks it’ll run off the sort of Alpha I _should_ be submitting myself to.”

“No,” Griff said forcefully, both to the idea of hurting Bill and finding a different mate.

“You and me both, pal.”  Chuckling, Bill licked some juice from his fingers.

The sight made Griff’s dick twitch, shocking him.  He hadn’t had any reaction down there in so long – too many medicines, too much trauma, he thought.  If he was functional again, however, maybe he _could_ properly mate Bill without disappointing him.

He had to know, however.  “Why no Alpha?”

Bill set down the remains of his burger, amber eyes studying Griff’s face.  “Not here,” he said finally.  “I guess you might as well know, since half of Jericho thinks they know what happened.  They don’t, not really, but I’d rather you know the truth.”

Others knew?  Why hadn’t Griff heard…?  Well, because he was either with Bill or Bill’s friends who wouldn’t betray his confidence like that.  He wasn’t exactly ever in a place to hear gossip about Bill.

Nodding, Griff handed Bill another tiny diner napkin.  Bill returned the nod in thanks and finished cleaning off his hands.

They finished their fries in silence.  Bill ordered them both milkshakes to go and they walked back to the station, where Bill’s car waited.  Griff stayed quiet, assuming Bill would start talking when he was ready.

Griff was right.  Later that night, they were both on the couch watching a baseball game.  Bill loved it, so Griff tried to enjoy it for his sake, but he was much more of a basketball man.  Sometime in the fifth inning, Bill muted the game and resituated himself on the couch so he was facing Griff.

“Okay, so.  I grew up here in Jericho and it’s kinda close-knit, you’ve noticed.  People assume that if you don’t run away as fast as possible when you turn eighteen, you’re going to find someone, settle down, and be here forever.  Perpetuate the cycle.”  Bill pinched the bridge of his nose.  “I was cool with that.  I mean, being an Omega, you’re raised to expect nothing more than being knotted by some Alpha and raising their kids.  I didn’t fight it because it didn’t sound so bad, you know?  Being taken care of and taking care of someone the rest of your lives.”

Making an affirmative noise, Griff nodded.  He’d been raised the same way, just from the opposite direction.

“Yeah,” Bill said.  “You were probably raised to expect to find another Beta.  But you have a little more leeway than Alphas and Omegas, you know?  Alphas are expected to provide for their families, Omegas to care for those families.  We don’t want to upset the natural order.  You Betas, though, can do anything you want.

“Fuck, I always wished I was a Beta.”

Griff wanted to tell him that being a Beta wasn’t all that great, but he couldn’t really argue Bill’s points.  Betas _did_ have more freedom choosing what to do with their lives – assuming it didn’t involve mating with anyone but another Beta.

“Anyway.  I never wanted to leave Jericho.  I love it here.  I love the people.  So I spent my high school years trying to find an Alpha who’d take me.  Junior year, I found one.  OLucia.  She was great, or so I thought.  We both hated our biology.  You know how it goes; people _expect_ the Alpha to be male and the Omega to be female, even though a good third of the population are the opposite.”

This was true.  Chauvinistic attitudes like that weren’t as prominent these days, but Griff supposed a place like Jericho was a little slow catching up to big city values.

“I don’t think I ever loved her.  The sex was great, even if we had to be careful around my heats, but love?  Wasn’t really part of it.  It was convenient for us both.  Made our families happy.  Fit the narrative.  I was willing to play along.”

“What happened?” Griff said.  This wasn’t _happy_ so far, but it wasn’t unhappy. 

“College.  Or rather, she went off to college.  She wanted the degree.  They had mated housing, but I wasn’t ready just yet and I didn’t want to do more school – wasn’t going to use it, so what was the use of spending that money? – so I stayed behind, unmated.

“Some Alphas here thought that meant I was fair game.”  Here Bill paused and looked away.  “Machinists at the factory in New Bern.  Older.  Took offense to an unmated Omega, even one waiting for their mate to come back from school.  I was working the factory too, just to have a job and they’re one of the employers around here that will hire _anyone_ , regardless of biology.”

Griff thought he saw where this was going, but he kept his mouth shut.  This was Bill’s story to tell.

“My heats have always been irregular.  Sometimes every month, sometimes every three or four.  And a heat started during a shift at the mine.  As soon as I realized what was happening, I tried to get out of there, but it was too late.  The gang – which I thought were my friends, helping me to safety – just took me to an abandoned hall and…”  Bill trailed off.

Filling in the blanks, Griff whimpered sympathetically.  He wanted to reach and take Bill’s hand, but his Omega had his arms wrapped around himself defensively.

“Luckily, there was a doctor in New Bern who’d help me out.  I didn’t want a baby then.  I was only eighteen and I couldn’t have told you who the father was.  None of those guys wanted to mate me anyway, they were just taking advantage of the young Omega in heat.

“It wasn’t like I was in a state to say no,” Bill laughed bitterly.  “When I tried to press charges, I was told I’d essentially said ‘yes’ by being in public for my heat.  It was my own fault.

“They walked.  And when Olivia found out, she was disgusted.  College turned her into more of a traditional Alpha who didn’t want a ‘used’ Omega, so she dumped me.  Mocked my character loudly and thoroughly.  Just like all the Alphas in the New Bern Sheriff’s Department.  Just like pretty much everyone else. 

“The story Olivia told was that I’d spread my legs for any and every Alpha who wanted me after she left and therefore she didn’t want me anymore.  My parents believed her, at least at first, so I got kicked out.”

Fuck, Griff thought.  No wonder Bill didn’t want to hook up with another Alpha, if they’d all treated him like that.

Bill’s face darkened.  “So that’s when I decided I never wanted another Alpha.  I tried to date Betas instead, but it’s hard to find one around here who’ll buck tradition like that, much less one interested in a male Omega instead of a female one.”

Griff thought he saw more of the story.  “Became deputy.”

Bill gave a half smile.  “Yeah, that’s why I became a deputy.  Someone needed to be able to stand up for Omegas and none of the Alpha dicks were doing it.  I came home and fought for two years with Sheriff Dawes before he gave me a chance and sent me to the Academy.  I had to work out harder to overcome the natural Omega tendency towards fat and train harder, but it’s worth it.  I’ve been able to help some Omegas out and they’ll talk to me when they won’t talk to the Alphas.”

“Not lawyer?”  It would have made as much sense as becoming law enforcement and the legal field was more accepting of Omegas.  Bill wouldn’t have to work out as much or work as hard as he did for respect.

“Someone has to be on the front lines,” Bill explained.  “If the cops won’t listen to you, you don’t believe a lawyer will either.  I know.”

“Parents?”

“They eventually figured it out.  Jimmy and Stanley – who’ve been my friends since school days – went to bat for me with them and named themselves my honor guard, basically.  Jimmy became a deputy after I said I wanted to be one so that he’d be there to watch me.”  Bill scoffed.  “I can take care of myself these days, but his intention’s pure.

“There’s still a bit of a rift between me and my parents.  They’ve moved about an hour away from here, retiring on a lake, and we only see each other at holidays.  Seems like everything I try to do to get away from being so helpless is another disappointment for them, so it’s just easier that way.”

The scent rolling off Bill right now was agitated and sad.  Griff wished he still had his own scent glands so he could potentially help soothe Bill.  Or would Bill see that as another intrusion by an Alpha?

Griff didn’t know what to do, so he gave into instinct.  Bill believed him to be a Beta, so maybe he’d let him comfort him.  He crawled forward on the couch, as if he was heading to scent Bill. 

Bill didn’t stop him or push him away – he actually bared his neck.  Habit or did he want Griff to do that?

“Sorry,” Griff rasped.  “Deserved better.”

A slight smile crossed Bill’s face and Griff went for it.  Instead of scenting Bill, he very lightly planted a kiss on his lips then pulled back.

“Deserve better,” Griff repeated.  “ _Are_ better.”

It didn’t look like Bill knew how to process the kiss.  Maybe he’d messed things up.  Griff pulled back a little more.

“You’re about the only one who believes that.”  Bill shook his head and leaned forward, kissing Griff again.  “Even Jimmy and Margaret and Stanley think I’ll find an Alpha _some_ day.  They put up with me liking Betas, but they think it’s a phase.  But you…?”

Bill’s eyes were big and questioning.

“Me,” Griff confirmed.

One more kiss and Griff laid down on the couch, putting his head in Bill’s lap.  Gently Bill combed his fingers through Griff’s hair and if Griff could have purred, he would.

“Jeez, Griff,” Bill said quietly.  “Was that just a ‘poor Omega’ thing or did you mean it?”

“Meant it,” Griff said.  “Love you.  You are– No.  _Want_ you to be mine.”  For Griff, that was almost a speech.  He wished he could get more words out, that he could tell Bill everything.  That he’d been violated too, that he knew about not fitting in and having to fight for a modicum of control.

“Love–?”  Bill stopped brushing Griff’s hair.  “Be yours?  Do you know what you’re saying?  I just told you all that and _that’s_ what you come out with?  If you don’t…”

Griff knew he ought to tell Bill his own story now, but he didn’t have the words.  He’d have to show him and tonight was definitely not the right time.

So instead of saying anything else, he just closed his eyes and settled a little further into Bill’s lap.  “Love,” he affirmed.

 

Bill didn’t know what to say to Griff that night, so he said nothing until it was time for bed.  Doing his best to act like everything was normal, he stripped down to his boxers and swapped pillows with Griff so the Beta would have the one that smelled the most like Bill – the best way to keep him from waking Bill up while scenting him after a bad dream.

Usually, he was able to fall asleep right away, but tonight, Bill was awake long after Griff had gone to sleep.

So the Beta loved him.  Had kissed him.  Apparently meant it when he called Bill ‘his.’

Huh.

Usually Bill got pity if he told that story, or they agreed with the New Bern cops that Bill’d asked for it.  Never had it been the impetus for someone to declare love before.

Then again, no one had ever declared love for Bill Koehler before.  That in itself was a huge first.

Inevitably, he compared Griff’s reaction to Olivia’s.  Olivia rejected him and had moved to the D.C. area, last he heard.  Northern Virginia somewhere.  Griff… said he loved Bill and wanted him.  Didn’t act like he was spoiled goods.

Maybe that was because Griff was from a larger city – Phoenix, according to his file.  Maybe he had just been instilled with a more accepting attitude from the start.  Maybe…

No.  Bill had to stop thinking.  It was almost eleven and he had to be up for work. 

But it was _so hard_ to quit hearing Griff’s raspy “Love” echoing in his head.

 

“I told Griff what happened to me last night,” he confessed to Jimmy while they were out on patrol.  Bill reset his grip on the steering wheel.  “With New Bern and Olivia and all.”

Jimmy shot him a worried glance.  “And?”

“It went well,” Bill said, thinking he was lucky that he had friends like Jimmy and Stanley, but still bracing himself for Jimmy’s reaction.  “He, uh.  He said _he_ wants to be my mate.  Even used the L word.”

It was pretty much as Bill expected.  Jimmy protested.  “Shit, Bill.  He’s a _Beta_.  You know I don’t care who you date, but are you trying to ostracize yourself from the town?”

“I’m not so sure he’s a Beta,” Bill said.  “I mean, maybe he’s some sort of cross between an Alpha and a Beta.  He smells like a Beta, but he acts like an Alpha and is responsive to scent.”

“You think he’s trans?  Had his scent glands removed?  His…?”  Jimmy gestured downward.

Bill had to keep from rolling his eyes.  Alphas.  Always concerned about their knot.  “I don’t know.  If he was, you’d think he’d try harder to _act_ like a Beta.  And usually it’s Betas going the other way, trying to get an artificial knot.”

“But it’s not unheard of.  Just really hard to get your status officially changed.”

“But would they have let him in the FBI like that?”  Bill answered his own question.  “Well, I guess it’s easier to go undercover as a Beta, usually, and having Alpha strength and the ability to still scent would give him an edge over other Betas.”

Jimmy shook his head.  “So you tried to pick up a Beta on a trip and ended up basically adopting him, only to find out he’s really an Alpha?”

“If he’s trans, Jimmy, he’s a Beta.”  Truthfully, Bill wasn’t sure what to think, but he at least knew how to stick up for Griff.  Besides, not even Jimmy and Stanley knew that Bill had looked at Omega-to-Beta surgeries after Olivia, thinking he could run off to a big city and disappear.  The surgeries in that direction weren’t as successful and honestly, he didn’t have dysphoria, just dissatisfaction, so he quietly shelved those plans and told no one.  “I just wonder if he _wants_ to be Beta still.”

“Because of how he acts?”

“Yeah.  You didn’t see him yesterday, but I thought he was about to Hulk out and chase down those Alphas.”

“’Hulking out’ is hardly limited to Alphas,” Jimmy said disapprovingly.  “You hate it when people stereotype you, so don’t stereotype us.”

His partner had a point.  “Sorry about that,” Bill said.

And then Jimmy went and ruined it all.  “Maybe he got that way because of the gene.”

Bill groaned.  “Not you, too!  I’ve already got Dawes breathing down my back because of that fucking gene.”  No one knew Griff like Bill did, except maybe Stanley and Bonnie.  You know what?  Fuck it.  “Let’s go out sometime.  You and me and Margaret and Griff.  See that he’s as much of a teddy bear as you are.  Plus I haven’t seen Margaret in a while.  Leave the kids with a babysitter and let her have some adult time.”

Jimmy hemmed and hawed, but agreed to ask Margaret.

After work, Bill brought it up to Griff.  “You want to court properly?” he asked, hoping Griff hadn’t changed his mind.

He hadn’t.  Griff nodded eagerly. 

“All right.  I think you’re crazy, but if you’re sure, first step is getting to know my friends.”

“Know Stanley.  Know Bonnie.  Learning sign language.”

“Yeah, you are.”  In the last month, Griff had started using sign language to get across some simple concepts and ideas, but he was learning quickly.  Leaving him with the Richmonds had been a stroke of brilliance on Bill’s part.  “But I’m also friends with the Taylors and you need to be cool with them, too.”

Griff gave Bill a look that clearly said ‘Okay, so?’

“So Jimmy and Margaret are gonna invite us to go out sometime.  Somewhere public, like Bailey’s or the Pizza Parlor.  I’ll make sure it’s a place where you can get finger food without looking weird,” Bill said over his shoulder as he went to change into casual clothes.  “Speaking of, what do you want tonight?”

There was silence from the bathroom, where Griff was getting ready to clean up after a long day in the fields with Stanley.  “Steak,” came the answer eventually.

It’d taken a while, but Griff didn’t seem to mind Bill cutting his food up for him now, as long as they were at home.  Bill never teased him about it, so maybe he felt comfortable. 

Was this the life he was signing up for?  A mate he’d have to baby like that forever?  And… _was_ Griff a Beta?  Or was he trans and still capable of impregnating Bill?  That seemed important to know, but Bill didn’t know how to bring it up.  ‘Hey, Griff, did you get scent glands removed and, by the way, do your balls work on Omegas?’ just didn’t seem like the right way to go about it.

Bill settled for “Someday, you’re gonna have to tell me your story, buddy.  Especially if you want to court.”

Griff looked down at his plate, spearing a bite of steak with one of Bill’s plastic forks.  He left the utensil sticking out of the steak and signed, _Not have words yet._

Of course he didn’t.  But how would he get them?  He’d have to talk for Bill or Stanley to know what signs he needed to learn.

Bill could start teaching him, under the guise of courting, maybe.  Awkward, but doable.

 

They went to bed early that night, or so Griff thought.  Instead of lying down, Bill sat cross-legged on the bed facing Griff and gestured for Griff to do the same.

“I don’t know your story,” Bill said slowly, signing as he went, “but I want to teach you words that might help.  If there are others you need, you can finger-spell them to me if you don’t want to talk.”

Griff was a little shocked.  Though, he realized as he mirrored Bill on the bed, Bill had told him his story.  By rights, he ought to be curious.  “Okay,” he said, signing too.

Bill signed along with everything he said.  “FBI” was easy, just finger-spelling.  “Agent” was a little trickier.  “Alpha.  Beta.  Omega.  Scent glands.”  A few anatomical terms.

Griff copied the signs, practicing them a few times while he said the word out loud.  He waited eagerly for the next words Bill wanted to teach him.

It took Bill a moment to continue, as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to.  “Born.  Surgery.”

Griff rocked back a little, eyes wide.  Had Bill guessed?  Or was he just throwing ideas out there?

Bill’s face softened.  “I hit on something there, didn’t I?  I was just guessing.  I wasn’t sure, but I thought maybe…  Since you can smell me and you act like you want to be my Alpha.  Maybe you were born one.”

Griff didn’t know what to say.  He got off the bed and went to his own bedroom, crawling under the covers there.  He hadn’t expected Bill to guess.

He needed to think about this.  Obviously there was more to his story than simply knowing he used to be an Alpha, but how did he tell a potential mate?

Kinda wanted Bill to follow him, however, but the Omega didn’t show up.  Maybe Griff had run him off by inadvertently confirming Bill’s guess.

Caught somewhere between despair and resolution, Griff went to sleep in his own, mostly unused bed.  It was harder to fall asleep not smelling Bill or feeling his warmth at Griff’s back, but he managed it.

At least until the nightmares came back.  Dana, on top of him in the bed.  Eric, blowing Amanda’s brains out after killing their parents.

And Griff couldn’t stop any of them. 

“Griff!  Wake up!  Before you wake the whole damn complex and get us kicked out!”

Griff opened his eyes and Bill slowly came into focus, looming over him in the bed.  Griff scrambled back, away from the Omega, heart still racing.  He didn’t like anyone over him like that.  Not after Dana.

“Whoa,” Bill said, taking a step back.  “Must have been a doozy.  It’s okay, Griff.  I’m not going to hurt you.”  He held out his hand.

Forcing himself to breathe, Griff debated taking Bill’s hand.  Was he comfortable with Bill guessing so much about him?

Yes.  Yes, he was.  Gingerly, he took Bill’s hand.  Leaning in that much brought him within scent distance of the Omega, which helped calm him even more.

“Come back to bed with me, Griff,” he said.  “You’ll sleep better.”

Griff didn’t follow right away.  “Wait.  Tell my story,” he said.  He knew tomorrow was Bill’s day off or he’d never suggest this in the middle of the night.

Blinking a little blearily, Bill peered at Griff.  “You’re ready now?”  When Griff nodded, Bill settled in at the foot of Griff’s little twin bed.  “Okay, what do you want to tell me?”

Very slowly, Griff talked and signed, blending the two to get his point across.  It was the first time he’d told anyone other than his family what he’d done.

He talked about how the Bureau hired him, but really needed Betas.  How he volunteered to get put on more cases and undercover missions – volunteered to become a Beta.  How they took his knot and his scent gland.  He showed Bill the tiny scars left behind his ears where his scent glands used to be.  How this was great for his career, but a personal regret.  How he felt lost and in the wrong body now, but it was too late to go back.

Bill listened carefully, only making a small whimper when Griff talked about getting surgery on his dick.

So Griff went on.  Talked about the drug raid that was in his file, but then about Godfrey.  And Dana.  And her damn placebos.  He got so worked up talking about her that Bill had to remind him to keep quiet – it _was_ three a.m.

“I wondered if you were trans,” Bill said once Griff was finished.  “I never imagined it was forced on you.  And then this Dana?”

Griff shivered.

Bill’s eyes hardened.  “I wish she was in Jericho so I could arrest her for what she did to you.  You didn’t deserve _any_ of that.”  He put an arm around Griff, holding him tight.  Griff relaxed into his side.

“Do you want to be a Beta still?” Bill asked.  “Or do you want me to think of you as an Alpha?”

No one had ever asked Griff that before.

“Alpha,” he said, even knowing it might mean giving up Bill.  “I stop courting if you want.”

Bill shook his head.  “You may actually be an Alpha, but you’ve treated me like Betas treat me.  That’s all I ever wanted from an Alpha.  We don’t have to stop courting.  Just don’t change.” 

As if to prove his point, Bill leaned in and kissed Griff’s cheek.  Griff turned to look at him and found himself kissing Bill, a little more forceful than they had the other night.  Bill cupped the back of his head, gently rubbing his thumbs over the scars where Griff’s scent glands should be.

Griff pulled back.  “Sorry.  Damaged.  Disfigured.”

“Psh,” Bill scoffed.  “If you want a ‘d’ term, try disabled.  It’s not your fault.”

“My choice.”

“Forced on you for your job.  Hell, I’m sure if they could force me to become a Beta, they would.  Fuck ‘em.  They’re stuck with you as an Alpha and me as an Omega.”

Griff wished he had Bill’s confidence.

What he _did_ have were Bill’s lips on his, on his jawline, even kissing his scars.

“My bed,” he murmured in Griff’s ear, sending a shiver down his spine.  “You can be my Alpha if you want to be.”

Griff’s dick was waking up again, even more so when he realized he was smelling desire emanating from Bill.

Not love.  But lust.  Griff would take that. 

He followed Bill eagerly, finding the Omega taking off his t-shirt by the bed.  All he had left were his boxers, tented in the front.  Griff hadn’t been wrong in scenting lust from him.

Bill held his hands out and Griff stepped into the room.  He stopped just shy of Bill, who took over, almost shoving his tongue down Griff’s throat while he palmed Griff through his pajama pants.  Oh, Griff hadn’t had anyone touch him like this in so long, not since that one disastrous encounter with a female Beta from the Bureau.  That was five years ago, though, and right fucking now was Bill Koehler doing obscene things with his mouth while he undressed Griff.

Griff’s scarred dick was on full display now.  He looked away from Bill, but the Omega just reached down and caressed him.  “Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Good.”

Bill tried to nudge Griff towards the bed, sending Griff into a small panic and making his erection flag.  “No,” he said again.  “Not bottom.  On top.”

Noticing Griff’s visceral reaction, Bill stopped.  “You need to be on top?  Okay, I can work with that.”  He guided Griff’s hands down his sides until Griff found himself removing Bill’s boxers.  For an Omega, he was impressively large, almost as big as Griff himself was – or had been.

Bill crawled back on the bed, legs just wide enough that Griff could see _all_ of Bill, from his erect dick to the opening partially hidden behind his balls.  Griff liked females well enough, but there was something about this willing male Omega that made him feel like an Alpha again.

Sadly, he wasn’t quite… up to the task just yet, so he followed Bill onto the bed, maneuvering himself between Bill’s legs.  Slowly, keeping eye contact with Bill, he took the Omega into his mouth and slid two fingers inside him, wrapping the other hand around the base of his dick.

It took him a minute to find the right rhythm, but Griff soon had Bill writhing on the bed, panting with every bob of Griff’s head.

“Fuck, Griff,” Bill said, “Gonna come.  Come hard.”

And he did, exploding in Griff’s mouth.  He almost gagged from the pressure on the back of his throat, but years of practice with an Army boyfriend came to the fore and he swallowed instead. 

The look on Bill’s face was enough to bring Griff to his full size again.

“No one’s ever cared about getting me off first,” Bill said breathlessly, reaching down to pull Griff up for another kiss, Griff’s dick brushing against Bill’s opening as he moved.

Bill squirmed a little.  “You gonna get inside me or what?” he challenged.

Both to answer the challenge and because he was afraid he wouldn’t last long, Griff moved so he could stick his fingers inside Bill again, working him until he was closer to orgasm.  Bill whimpered when Griff pulled his hand away, but sighed as Griff pressed his dick up against him.

“Ready?” Griff rasped.

Bill bit his lip and nodded, still flush from his last orgasm.

Griff pushed in, relishing the soft warmth and unique feeling of a male Omega – females were just as soft and warm, but didn’t give you the added stimulation of another set of balls rubbing against your dick.

“Move, damn it.”

Bill was no demure Omega waiting on his Alpha’s pleasure.  Griff liked that.  Had liked that since the Omega was forward enough to give him his number.

If Bill wanted to be the dominant in this relationship, well.  They were already messed up in the eyes of the world.  Why not be a little more unconventional?

Griff moved.  _Fuck_ , that felt good.  And either Bill was putting on a good show or it felt good to him as well.  Maybe Griff’s disfigurement really didn’t hamper his performance like he thought it did.

Bill arched his back on the bed, pressing himself up against Griff’s bare chest.  He reached up and wrapped his arms around Griff’s sides, clawing at his back.  Waves of happy, lustful Omega scent were roiling off him and Griff hadn’t smelled anything so good in ages.

He wanted nothing more than to reach down to that special spot where Bill’s collarbone met his shoulder and give Bill a mating bite, certain the action would bring them both to climax, but Bill hadn’t given him permission.  Griff had enough sense left to know that.

Someday soon, maybe.

Griff sped up, feeling his own orgasm approaching, and Bill started panting again.

“Don’t fucking stop,” he ordered, using what Griff knew was his ‘obey me; I’m a deputy’ voice.

Thinking of one of his old supervisors to hold back his climax, Griff managed to wait until Bill moaned loudly and Griff felt him spasm around his dick.

That was all it took.  Griff let himself go and came with a long, deep grunt. 

Only after he collapsed on top of Bill did he notice his back stinging where Bill had marked him.  Hoping that Bill felt the same way he did about those marks, he managed to reach back and touch one.  “Am yours?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Bill said, interrupting himself with a kiss on Griff’s forehead.  “You’re mine now.  My Alpha.  Until you decide you want somebody better or younger.”

Griff sat up, staring at Bill.  _You are better enough_ , he signed.  “I want you.  Love.”

It looked like Bill was trying to hold back a smile.  Instead, he rolled off the bed and got back in under the covers.

“Are you joining me or not?” he asked.

That was as close as Griff was going to get to an acknowledgment of his confession and he knew it.  He crawled under the blankets and before he knew it, Bill was curled up against his back, one arm dangling over Griff’s stomach.

Griff hoped he still felt this way when they woke up again.

 

Bill woke, as usual, with Griff plastered to his back, nose in his hair and neck.

It wasn’t the worst way to wake up, truth be told.

Last night, though – Griff had said a lot that needed to be digested and then had Bill really…?

Yeah.  Bill had had sex with an Alpha for the first time since Olivia.  An Alpha forced to become a Beta, but an Alpha still.  Griff had made it pretty clear that he wanted to be one again, so Bill would honor that, even if the rest of the world saw him as a Beta

Griff had also, over the past weeks, made it clear he loved and wanted to mate him.  And Bill had already made clear to his boss and Jimmy that he didn’t mind if that happened; there was just one thing holding him back.

Sighing, Bill slipped out of Griff’s grasp and went to make breakfast.  He’d rather go back to sleep after their early morning escapades, but he had work and Bill was _not_ going to do anything to jeopardize his job.

Griff stumbled in the little apartment dining room when Bill put on the bacon.  “Mm,” he grunted.  “Smells good.”

Bill bit back a sassy comment about whether it was the bacon or him that smelled so good.  “Almost medicine time, Griff,” he reminded him instead.

Griff nodded and went to the daily pill boxes that Bill kept filled for him, shaking out the morning dosage.  It occurred to Bill that he didn’t know what half of Griff’s medicines were for; he’d just accepted them all.  Determined to know more of what the government was doing to the man who wanted to mate him, Bill jotted down medicine names while Griff ate, sticking the paper in his pocket to look up later.

Griff was almost finished with breakfast.  Bill had seconds ready for him – Griff had put on weight since Bill started cooking for him and Bill was oddly proud of that fact.  Griff actually looked _healthy_ these days, especially combined with the muscles the farm work had given him.

Bill shook his head, realizing he was practically drooling.  All this over an Alpha.  Man, what had happened to him?

“Griff,” he said, sitting down across from him with his own breakfast.  “We both know each other’s stories now.  You know my heats are irregular.  They’re also getting somewhat less frequent as I get older.”

Shrugging as if to say it didn’t matter, Griff watched Bill carefully.

Taking a deep breath, Bill forged ahead.  “I’m not opposed to us mating.  You’re an Alpha, but you’re a good one and you treat me like a person, not just an Omega.  The only thing is–”

“What?” Griff rasped, looking as if he were prepared to get kicked.

Oh, Bill wasn’t trying to hurt him.  “The only thing is I don’t want us to mate unless it’s in one of my heats.  You know that makes the bond stronger and more accepted.  We’ve got enough going against us that that little thing could help some people get over what seems to be a Beta-Omega mating.  Are you okay waiting for my next heat?  It could be months.  It could be next year.”

Griff was quiet for a bit, disbelief on his face.  “You want to be my mate?” he asked, in a voice that matched that disbelief, the full sentence unusually eloquent for him.

“Yeah, Griff.  I do.”  Bill couldn’t quite believe it himself.

“Wait okay,” Griff said, back to his usual brusqueness.

Bill leaned back in his chair.  “Okay then.  I guess consider us engaged, then.”  He was really doing this.  Holy crap.  He was really going to mate an Alpha.

What else stereotypically Omega was he going to do for Griff?  Would they have kids?  He couldn’t quite quit his job and be a stay-at-home-Omega because he supported them both, but would he want to?

He was unusually quiet the rest of the morning, prompting Jimmy to comment while they were stopped, watching for speeders.

“Just thinking, is all,” Bill explained.  Remembering the slip of paper in his pocket, he dug it out.  “You gonna tell the sheriff if I look some stuff up while we’re on shift?”

Jimmy frowned.  “You know I won’t ‘cause I know you’ll still be on alert.  But you’ve still got a flip phone and the laptop is monitored.  How’re you gonna look stuff up?”

“You’re gonna lend me your phone,” Bill said matter-of-factly.  “C’mon, Jimmy.”

Jimmy pulled his phone out of his pocket, but paused before handing it over.  “What are you looking up?”

“Griff’s medicines.”  Bill showed Jimmy the list.  “I realized I haven’t heard of most of them and if I’m gonna take care of him, it makes sense I should know what they are and what they do.”

Thinking it over only took Jimmy a few seconds and he handed his phone over.  “Griff still doing okay with Stanley?”

“So far, so good.  Just that one incident the other day.”  Bill was half distracted Googling the medications.  Anti-psychotics, sedatives, meds for abnormal depression – all what he’d expected – and then there was one that was specifically to stop Griff from going into a rut.  “Huh.”

“What is it?” Jimmy asked, understandably curious.

Bill started to say, but stopped.  Jimmy didn’t know about Griff’s story.  Should he tell him?

Well, it was Griff’s story, but Jimmy was his partner.  He needed his partner on his side if they were going to mate and be accepted by Jericho.  Surely Griff would understand.  He sighed.  “Remember talking about whether or not Griff was trans?”

“Yeah?”

“He is, but he isn’t.  He told me his story – he’s an Alpha who was basically forced by his job to undergo the surgeries to become a Beta.  He doesn’t want to be one, but there’s no real reversing what was done to him.”

Jimmy frowned.  “So is he an Alpha or is he a Beta right now?  Or does it matter?”

“Alpha, just one without scent glands, a knot, or ruts.  I thought it didn’t matter to me, but apparently it does because Griff wants to be my mate and I’m– well, I’m okay with it, even though he’s an Alpha.”

Jimmy just stared at Bill, who shrunk in the passenger seat a little.  He could talk about anything with Jimmy, but sometimes it was a little embarrassing nonetheless.

“Maybe some part of me likes that he’s an Alpha.  But he’s a safe one; he doesn’t bully me.”

“No good Alpha bullies Omegas, you know that.  We just work with some jerks.”

Bill briefly felt bad for disparaging Jimmy’s gender.  Jimmy had put up with a lot of complaining from Bill over the years.  “Anyway,” he said, changing the subject, “this one drug, Vyxer, apparently stops his ruts.  I bet the FBI forced him on that years ago when he first had the surgeries.  I wonder if he’d rut again if he stopped them.”

“You sure you want to be around an Alpha in rut who’s got the Evil Gene?” Jimmy said cautiously.

Bill scoffed.  “I trust Griff now.  It’s been long enough that he could have easily hurt any one of us but he hasn’t.”

“You’re not taking him off all his drugs, are you?”

A pang went through Bill.  “No.  I don’t think so.  I know they mess with his head, but I would want him to be in therapy or something before I messed with the psychiatric meds.  I don’t want him experiencing PTSD again if he doesn’t have to.”

Jimmy nodded.  “Therapy might be a good idea.  Think you can find anyone who’ll take him as a client?”

Bill was _not_ sure about that.  Asking a small town psychologist to take on a patient known to have the Evil Gene was a lot.  “If I have to take him to New Bern or Rogue River or Hays, I will.  Denver, even.  Surely there’s some shrink somewhere who wants to study patients like him.”  Belatedly, Bill remembered there had been: Dana.  Griff might resist the idea of therapy.  He sighed again and told Jimmy Griff’s full story, from the army to his family’s murders to the FBI and the forced surgery to Godfrey and Dana Erhart.

“Woah,” Jimmy said.  “Talk about a bad life.”

“Yeah,” Bill moped.  “And he’s looking to me now to make it better.  If I can give him back his ruts, maybe– maybe I’ll have heats with him.  Maybe he’ll feel more like himself and be more stable.”

“Those are some big maybes,” Jimmy pointed out.  “And what if you do sync up your heats and ruts?  You going to try for kids with him?  Knowing he might pass on the Gene?”

“Damn it, Jimmy, I don’t know.  We just agreed to be mates last night, but we aren’t going to actually do it until I go into heat again.  It’s not like we hashed out our entire futures.”

“Okay, okay, fine.”  Jimmy held up his hands.  “So you’re gonna see if he can get ruts still.  And maybe that’ll spark a heat for you and you’re gonna mate.  Got it.”

Bill nodded and sat back up in his seat.  He felt on firmer ground now.

“Still need to introduce him to your parents, though, don’t you?”

And there went the confident feeling.  His relationship with his parents was shaky enough; what would bringing home an Alpha like Griff do to it?

“And Margaret.”

Shit, yeah.  Margaret was even more important than his parents.  Bill had sort of written off their approval years ago, letting them pour their admiration into his older Beta sister, but Margaret was _here_.  In Jericho.  And he wanted to stay on her good side because the alternative wasn’t pretty – and because he wanted to keep at least one Omega friend.

“I already told you,” he said, “set up a time and date and we’ll come over or meet you out somewhere.”

Jimmy nodded.  “If it helps, I think Margaret will be happy just to see that you’re happy.”

Bill relaxed a little.  “If she is, that’ll mean a lot.”


End file.
